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High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

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HCN has covered the lands, wildlife and communities of the Western U.S. for more than 50 years. Get to know the West better by signing up to receive HCN’s on-the-ground reporting and investigations in your inbox.

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Mexico

Posted inArticles

Western monarch butterflies favor private land. Now what?

by Kylie Mohr November 25, 2024December 5, 2024

A new analysis of the butterflies’ migration routes shows the need for collaborative conservation.

The early morning sun shines through the Sonoran Desert landscape near the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona. According to the International Organization for Migration, the U.S.- Mexico border is the deadliest land route for migrants in the world.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing

The fatal flaw in the Border Patrol’s rescue program

by Tanvi Misra September 1, 2024September 5, 2024

The Missing Migrant Program is meant to prevent deaths. Instead, it may be causing them.

Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing

La falla fatal en las operaciones de rescate de la Patrulla Fronteriza

by Tanvi Misra September 1, 2024September 5, 2024

La agencia tiene la tarea de salvar a migrantes en peligro pero puede estar empeorando las cosas.

A stroller that was left behind after a family was taken into custody last summer by the Border Patrol near Quitobaquito Springs, Arizona.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys

A border need not be a wall

by John Washington April 1, 2024April 1, 2024

An immigration journalist on confronting laws and encountering humanity.

Posted inArticles

A cartography of loss in the Borderlands

by Caroline Tracey February 21, 2024March 11, 2024

Mexicali’s Colorado River Family Album documents what is no more.

Posted inJanuary 1, 2024: January 2024

Defending the Tijuana Estuary

by Ruxandra Guidi January 1, 2024October 4, 2024

Stewardship saved a Southern California estuary from development. Climate change is the next challenge.

Posted inArticles

Report finds Arizona 911 dispatchers fail to help lost migrants

by Tanvi Misra November 14, 2023January 31, 2024

Pima County emergency services engage in ‘unconstitutional and abusive practices’ on the border, a humanitarian group says.

Tony Valdovinos photographed in Phoenix, Arizona in October.
Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023

As DACA falls again, what does it mean to be American?

by Fernanda Santos October 4, 2023January 24, 2024

Tony Valdovinos was brought to the U.S. at the age of 2. The challenges of not having citizenship haven’t stopped his success.

King’s neighborhood is not on the coast most popular with American expats, but it does have amenities like restaurants as well as houses that are higher-quality houses than many of her neighbors, according to King.
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water

How northern Mexico became a climate migration destination

by Caroline Tracey July 1, 2023January 24, 2024

U.S. and Central American immigrants are converging in Baja California after disasters.

Foto que muestra una inundación en la calle en Tijuana compartida por uno de los participantes del proyecto
Posted inArticles, En español

Cómo usar datos de colaboración colectiva para repensar los desastres naturales

by Caroline Tracey March 23, 2023April 11, 2024

El Monitor Ciudadano de Inundaciones de Tijuana puede servir como modelo para la colección de datos en el oeste estadounidense impactado por las inundaciones.

Crowd-sourced image of street flooding following a storm in 2018.
Posted inArticles

As extreme weather outpaces response, could crowdsourced data help?

by Caroline Tracey March 23, 2023January 24, 2024

Tijuana’s Citizens’ Flood Monitor offers a model for data collection in the flood-affected West.

Posted inArticles

Researchers solve one of the Borderlands’ biggest water puzzles

by Caroline Tracey January 9, 2023January 24, 2024

Officially, the U.S. and Mexico share 11 groundwater basins. A new map bumps that figure up to a stunning 72.

Posted inArticles

A year in the Borderlands: The biggest stories from 2022

by Caroline Tracey December 29, 2022January 24, 2024

With a little help from our friends, HCN untangles the complexities of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Posted inArticles

The environmental consequences of Gov. Ducey’s rogue ‘border wall’

by Caroline Tracey November 15, 2022January 24, 2024

Slicing across Arizona’s Coronado National Forest, the barrier will stop more migrating mammals than humans.

Posted inArticles

The history behind the New Mexico-Texas Rio Grande settlement

by Caroline Tracey November 10, 2022January 24, 2024

It’s taken 10 years for the states to reach an agreement, but it may not be the end of the water conflict.

Posted inNovember 1, 2022: The Futures of Conservation

Post-Trump, wildlife passages along the border wall keep narrowing

by Sarah Tory October 17, 2022January 24, 2024

As construction continues, U.S. and Mexican conservationists work together to preserve remaining corridors.

Posted inArticles

New study finds DDT in California condors

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster May 27, 2022January 24, 2024

Chemicals dumped in the 1970s are still seeping into the food chain. But the Yurok Tribe is confident their birds will be OK.

Posted inArticles

At the Colorado River conference, ‘It’s really no longer a drill’

by Theo Whitcomb December 22, 2021January 24, 2024

Water managers announce new measures to deal with dwindling water supply.

Posted inArticles

EPA announces $630 million plan to stem cross-border sewage flows

by Jessica Kutz December 14, 2021January 24, 2024

Once approved, these infrastructure projects will treat contaminated water before it’s released into the ocean.

Posted inArticles

Visualizing the aquifers that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border

by Jessica Kutz November 3, 2021January 24, 2024

For the first time, scientists have mapped out the groundwater the two countries share.

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